A Cambuslang dentist has plenty to smile about after being crowned practice of the year at a recent awards ceremony.

Gray’s Dentist on West Coats Road took the prize at the Scottish dental awards, leaving them grinning from ear to ear after brushing off the competition.

The award was handed out at a black-tie ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow, and was judged based on testimonials submitted by patients about the practice.

The business has been there for 35 years, with Melanie Gray taking over the running of the dentist from dad Eric eight years ago.

Her father still works at the practice, alongside the third member of their dental team, Jeanne Sangster.

Melanie said: “I was shocked but very happy when we won.

“We had been nominated for the community prize so that’s what we were thinking about more – we didn’t get that one, but then we found out we’d won the best practice award.

“It meant a lot as it was based around what our patients had said about us.

“A couple of years ago we won the unsung hero prize too.”

Melanie thinks that the business being family-run has helped them connect with patients easier.

She added: “You do get a lot of big, quite corporate places now, and we’re somewhere that has been here for a long time, and where the patients know us – some of them have known me since I was a little girl!

“I think they like having that family care, and that is why they have stuck with us.”

There could even be another generation of Gray’s dentists on the way, too.

Melanie laughed: “My son has already asked about being an assistant!

“I’ve told him that he’ll need to wait until he’s a bit older though.”